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One common question asked by many writers is: "How
long should my story be?"

The simplest answer is: As long as it takes to tell the
whole story.

However, there are certain word lengths that editors
prefer to see when submitting work.

Here is an approximate guideline for story lengths.

Micro-Fiction

up
to 100 words

This very abbreviated story is often difficult to write,
and even harder to write well, but the markets for micro
fiction are becoming increasingly popular in recent
times. Publishers love them, as they take up almost no
room and don't cost them their budgets. Pay rates are
often low, but for so few words, the rate per word
averages quite high.

Flash
Fiction

100
- 1,000 words

This is the type of short-short story you would expect to
find in a glossy magazine, often used to fill one page of
quick romance (or quick humor, in men's mags) Very
popular, quick and easy to write, and easier to sell!

Short
Story

1,000 - 7,500 words

The 'regular' short story, usually found in periodicals
or anthology collections. Most 'genre' zines will
features works at this length.

Novellette

7,500 - 20,000 words

Often a novellette-length work is difficult to sell to a
publisher. It is considered too long for most publishers
to insert comfortably into a magazine, yet too short for
a novel. Generally, authors will piece together three or
four novellette-length works into a compilation novel.

Novella

20,000 - 50,000 words

Although most print publishers will balk at printing a
novel this short, this is almost perfect for the
electronic publishing market length. The online audience
doesn't always have the time or the patience to sit
through a 100,000 word novel. Alternatively, this is an
acceptable length for a short work of non-fiction.

Novel

50,000 -110,000

Most print publishers prefer a minimum word count of
around 70,000 words for a first novel, and some even
hesitate for any work shorter than 80,000. Yet any piece
of fiction climbing over the 110,000 word mark also tends
to give editors some pause. They need to be sure they can
produce a product that won't over-extend their budget,
but still be enticing enough to readers to be saleable.
Imagine paying good money for a book less than a
quarter-inch thick?

Epics
and Sequels

Over 110,000 words

If your story extends too far over the 110,000 mark,
perhaps consider where you could either condense the
story to only include relevant details, or lengthen it to
span out into a sequel, or perhaps even a trilogy.
(Unless, of course, you're Stephen King - then it doesn't
matter what length your manuscript is - a publisher is a
little more lenient with an established author who has a
well-established readership)

Page
Counts

In most cases, industry standard preferred length is 250
words per page... so a 400 page novel would be at about
100,000 words. If you want to see what size book is
selling in your genre, take a look on the shelves. If the
average length is 300 pages, you're looking at a 75,000
word manuscript (approximately)

One reason it's harder for a new author to sell a 140,000
word manuscript is the size of the book. A 500+ page book
is going to take up the space of almost two, 300 page
books on the shelves. It's also going to cost more for
the publishers to produce, so unless the author is well
known, the book stores aren't going to stock that many
copies of the 'door-stopper' novel as compared to the
thinner novel.

Remember, these word- and page-counts are only estimated
guides. Use your own common sense, and, where possible,
check the guidelines of the publication you intend to
submit your work to. Most publishers accepting shorter
works will post their maximum preferred lengths, and
novels are generally considered on the strength of the
story itself, not on how many words you have squeezed
into each chapter.

Lee Masterson is a freelance writer from
South Australia. She is also the editor of Fiction Factor
(http://www.fictionfactor.com) - an online
magazine for writers, offering tips and advice on getting
published, articles to improve your writing skills, heaps
of writer's resources and much more.